The construction and installation of electrical conductors such as cables which may contain one or more electrical conductors with their terminals or connectors and with their junctions, must be done so that, especially in an aircraft, all kinds of loads can be taken up, such as mechanical loads, thermal loads, electrical loads and chemical exposures. For this purpose it is known to install electrical cable connections in an aircraft or at least at certain locations within an aircraft in metal protector casings. These casings protect the cable inside the casing against mechanical influences and/or against electro-magnetic disturbances, especially against the adverse influence of excess voltages or currents caused by lightning. In an aircraft it is necessary to install such protector casings and their connections in such a way that the respective cable can be connected to a large number of densely packed electrical equipment components or groups of such components. Additionally, these components are supplied with rather different types of useful signals and have different sensitivities regarding adverse influences such as the effects of lightning. Conventional installations of this type cannot be installed in a minimal space with variable directions of the extension of these cables for connection to electrical and/or mechanical terminal components inside the aircraft body. Further, once conventional cables with their protector casings are installed, they have a tendency to not retain the installed curved or bent configuration especially if the cables are stiff.
German Patent Publication DE-PS 3,914,930 C1 (Kirma) published on Oct. 25, 1990, discloses a device for protecting individual electrical conductors by enclosure in a protective corrugated hose which is effective against excess voltages as may occur due to lightning impact in an aircraft. The device includes a plug connector having a straight configuration. The corrugated hose is made of metal and functions as a protector casing fixed to the end of the housing of the plug connector. Any directional change of the cable toward the plug connector is accomplished with the help of two half shells which are rigid and capable only of accommodating a right-angle bend in the cable. Such a connection element or connector does not permit any installation of electrically insulated conductors that must be bent for connection to an electrical component in an aircraft. Any bend made is not stiff against bending unless the above mentioned two-half shells are used which have, as mentioned, the limitation disadvantage that they can accommodate only a 90.degree. bend.
German Patent Publication DE-OS 2,503,471 (Francois) published on Nov. 13, 1975 discloses a coupling for flexible conduits of synthetic or elastic material such as a hose for a flowing medium or for an electrical conductor. The coupling has a hexagonal head having nipple type extensions on both sides and a seal between the coupling and the conduit. The seal is accomplished by pressing the end of the conduit with a coupling nut against the coupling member. A stuffing seal is provided between the coupling nut and the respective coupling extension. The stuffing seal also facilitates the mounting of the conduit hose on the coupling extension. The known connection does not realize a permanent mechanical shape-retaining bend. The hoses are too flexible for a retaining of a bend once formed. Thus, the known construction is not suitable for use in a hose system that needs to be installed in an aircraft with a substantial curve that, once installed, must retain its curved configuration.
German Utility Model Publication GE-UM G 94 01 199.0 (Sihn, Jr.) published on May 5, 1994 relates to a coaxial cable fitting for connecting a coaxial cable to a housing. The housing has a connector bushing with an inner threading. The fitting has an outer conductor bushing with a device for holding the coaxial cable in the outer conductor bushing which has an outer threading for cooperation with the inner threading of the housing connector bushing. The device for holding the cable is a shrinkable hose and the mentioned outer threading is part of a section rotatably connected to the outer conductor bushing. A contact spring is provided between the outer conductor bushing and the threaded bushing section. This known construction also does not provide the bendability of the cable nor any capability of retaining a bend in its curved configuration once the bend has been formed.